booklywookly 's review for:

Forgotten on Sunday by Valérie Perrin

4.0

emotional lighthearted sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

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Review by Prateek - @BooklyWookly on Instagram

This is Valérie Perrin's debut novel, originally published in French in 2015 and translated into English by Hildegarde Serle in 2023. 

The novel tells the story of Justine, a 21-year-old young lady who works as a care assistant at a retirement home called The Hydrangeas. She loves to listen to the stories of the elderly residents and to keep them company when no one visits them - hence, "forgotten on Sundays". She becomes especially close to Hélène Hel, a 96-year-old woman nicknamed “The Beach Lady”, and together they form an unlikely friendship. Or rather let's call it a profound connection.

We are following two timelines here. In present, we have Justine, living with her grandparents and cousin Jules. Both Justine and Jules lost their parents in a car accident when they were just kids. Being surrounded by aged people, at home and at work, Justine has forgotten what it is to be young and wild. She is pessimist and shows no ambitions beyond her small town of Milly. She is writing Helen’s story and preserving her memories of love and war, but in the process also uncovers some secrets around the aforementioned car accident. 

The story Justine is writing in her blue notebook forms the parallel timeline where we follow a bittersweet love story of Hélène and Lucein, set in the backdrop of World War 2. Hélène, daughter of seamstress, an exceptionally beautiful and talented young woman. All she wants is to be able to read. Lucein, a handsome young man, who escaped the family curse that turns all the men blind by the time they reach adulthood, yet is so sure of his inevitable destiny that he taught himself to live in darkness and read in braille. An extraordinarily tender romance, cut short by the repercussions of War. Sigh. 

The novel's narrative structure, seamlessly weaving between past and present, adds layers of complexity to the storytelling. Perrin uses a lot of imagery to create vivid scenes of French countryside and the retirement home. The book explores themes such as grief, loss, family, friendship, memory, loneliness, and resilience. There is melodrama, coincidences, secrets, regret, mysteries, and a (probably, metaphorical) seagull. The sentences are short, the chapters, shorter.

This has melancholy written all over it, invoking that warmth you expect from books in December. It's a proper slow reveal kind of book. And this is where I have my gripes with the blurb. It feels exaggerated - kind of intentionally written to trap you into thinking this will be some Agatha Christie type small village mystery read. It is not. Not cool, Europa Edition. 

P.S. You read it here first, folks. Prateek predicts this to be longlisted for International Booker.